


A tale of trust

by dreaminghigher (regencyaus)



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - His Dark Materials Fusion, Angst, First Time, M/M, Vague 19th century setting, daemons are animals that are a physical manifestation of your soul, his dark material au means that evryone has a daemon, ish kinda not really, more info inside, not a teenage au eames daemon just keeps changing into adulthood, this is super sappy that was just my mood these days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-19 14:09:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22712047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/regencyaus/pseuds/dreaminghigher
Summary: That fandom classic His Dark Materials!AU.Eames has a shifting daemon and a crush on his newest business contact. The rest, well- the rest is history.“What can you see?” Eames asks his daemon.“A man. Looks green, to be honest, but it must be the contact we're here to meet. Nicely dressed.”Hmm. Eames considers this.“Daemon?”“Coyote,” Lily answers immediately.The info Eames had was some kind of canine. This must be it.“Alright. Act normal,” he tells Lily. “We’re kinda wanted in Baltimore but it’s been years. Blend in and we'll be fine.”“Please. When have I ever not acted normal?”Eames grins at her. “Do you want that chronology?”“Hush,” she says, and flies a little over his right shoulder. “Let’s meet this guy.”
Relationships: Arthur/Eames (Inception)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 100
Collections: Eames' Stupid Cupid 2020





	A tale of trust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [storm_of_sharp_things](https://archiveofourown.org/users/storm_of_sharp_things/gifts).



> It's still the 14th somewhere!
> 
> To my giftee: hope you enjoy this! When I read the prompt **steampunk** I thought it had incredible potential but I had a tough time deciding what to write. I googled some examples of steampunk stories for inspiration and that's when the Golden Compass caught my eye. So this is a His Dark Materials infusion fic (hope you like it?), and it also has a vague 19th century / early 20th century setting and literal trains, just to be sure it fits the prompt lmao
> 
> If you're familiar with His Dark Materials, this is all! Go for it.
> 
> If not, here's a quick rundown.
> 
> Everyone has a daemon, a physical manifestation of their soul that takes shape in an animal. Daemons are smart, capable of human speech and behave independently from humans, but they are a part of their human and therefore have similar personality and desires.
> 
> When people are young daemons shape shift into different animals at will, but in puberty they settle into their final form. People generally have opposite gender daemons, with rare cases of same gender ones (associated with homosexuality in fanom). Daemons interact with each other freely, usually in ways that mimic their human counterparts, but _"The worst breach of etiquette imaginable" is for a human to touch another person's dæmon,_ though there are exceptions (such as between lovers or in particularly violent fights).

Just once Eames wanted someone to be waiting for him at the train station. The thought comes to him one afternoon, as his train slowly approaches Baltimore. Those arrivals at the station after a long trip are so emotional, couples reunited, children hugging their parents, tears and handkerchiefs passing around. Eames wanted to join in on the action. Have someone who missed how amazing Eames is, Eames thinks, and went to the station just to wait for him to arrive.

Considering Eames is a thief and he takes trains to plan to steal cargo, that is relatively unlikely.

Still. You know.

"You're getting cheesy," Lily sing songs at him.

"Hush," he tells her.

She's currently a snake, wrapped around his wrist underneath his clothes. Eames waits for the police station to be out of the window's view and shoos her.

“Alright, go. See what you can spot.”

She considers shapes for a moment. A mice for a flash, back to the snake, before settling into a hummingbird.

 _The windows don't open_ , he shows her, and then, _I can open the door between train wagons for a moment_. She considers it and nods.

Eames makes his way to the door and opens it just a fraction.

“Don't get far,” he reminds her.

“You know it,” she replies, and then she’s gone.

He counts to 30 inside his head, just to be safe, and then opens the door again. She flies right in, perfect timing.

“What’ve you got?” Eames asks.

“A man. Looks fresh out of high school, to be honest, but it must be the contact we're here to meet. Nicely dressed.”

“Where?”

“Just outside the station. He has a carriage.”

Hmm. Eames considers this.

“Daemon?”

“Coyote,” Lily answers immediately.

The info Eames had was _some kind of canine_. This must be it.

“Alright. Act normal,” he tells Lily. “We’re kinda wanted in Baltimore but it’s been years. Blend in and we'll be fine.”

“Please. When have I ever not acted normal?”

Eames grins at her. “Do you want that chronology?”

“Hush,” she says, and flies a little over his right shoulder. “Let’s meet this guy.”

*

Eames gets out of the train along with a family, some tourists. He blends right in.

He passes through arrivals but doesn’t linger. He can feel Lily ready to tease him about his moment of sweetness earlier. He smiles and doesn’t give her the opportunity.

He exists out of the door that she indicates and tries to look around discreetly. A few moments later, he spots the man Lily mentioned. He’s smoking a cigarette outside the station, the coyote curled up at his feet.

Lily exaggerated with the guy’s age, he’s not that young. He does look a little too early on the twenties to be a criminal, though, if Eames is sharing opinions. Also he is _beautiful_ , but that’s neither here nor there. He has an air of casual confidence about him, like the world should bend to his will just because he wants it to. This should be fun.

Eames approaches and the man doesn’t immediately acknowledge him, but the coyote's ears perk up.

Eames waves at the coyote because honestly, it seems like the polite thing to do. Eames has an instinctive reaction to any kind of dog. The coyote looks up at him and seems casually curious.

The man is unimpressed.

“Hello,” Eames tries, and puts on his brightest smile. “Hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”

“Mr. Eames, I presume?”

“The one and only.”

The man finishes his cigarette and stubs it out.

“Glad you could come to town to meet me. I have an office downtown where we can discuss the operation.” Straight to business then. Eames is not disappointed. Well, maybe just a little.

“I can make an offer there,” the man adds, “Climb on board.”

That seems to be when Lily actually pays attention to the carriage.

Oh boy. She _loves_ horses.

“ _Ooh_ horses!” She says, and yeah, she does that.

Lily approaches the horses and turns into one herself so she can rub necks. The horses immediately love her.

“Sorry,” Eames tells the man, still watching the scene. “She does that.”

Lily makes some kind of soothing noise and the horses bump their heads against her, almost like cats. Eames has no idea how she does it.

The man is paying attention to the interaction.

"You're in your forties and your daemon’s never settled?"

"Strategic advantage," Eames counters automatically, more out of habit than anything. And then he pauses.

"Thirties, thank you very much."

"Mid thirties, at least."

"Sure, but thirties anyway." God, what an asshole.

The man is still staring at Lily. As the man watches, Lily turns back into a hummingbird, flies in two loops and lands upright near the man’s head.

 _Show off_ , Eames mouths at her. She winks.

"She does it on purpose then?" The man asks. "To help you out in the field?"

Eames needs a second to catch up.

"The shape shifting," the man clarifies. Of course.

“She does it because she's special,” Eames answers, and doesn’t feel like further explaining. “Can we please get back on track?”

At least the man looks chastised. “I meant no offense,” he says, perfectly polite. “Right down this way, Mr. Eames."

The man is ready to depart, but the coyote stays a step back, looking over her shoulder at Lily. As Eames watches, Lily flies low, close to the coyote, and bumps against her nose. The coyote smiles.

"Sam!" The man calls.

The coyote rushes and catches up with him.

Hmmm. Interesting.

Eames waits until the man is a few steps ahead and whistles to Lily.

"Lily," he whispers, once she's close enough, "the nice man and I are gonna talk business. Try to get some info on Sam, will ya?"

"You got it."

Ok, he thinks. Showtime.

*

About fifteen minutes later they arrive at a warehouse far from the historical center of the city. The guy shows them to a second floor office and gets straight to negotiations.

Meeting goes well, all things considered. Guy’s name is Mr. Smith, which Eames decides is the World’s Worst Code Name, but nothing he can do about it. The guy’s contact wants some big cargo, Eames would be hired muscle while Smith works on a distraction. All perfectly within Eames' skill set. They’ve got about a month to work on strategy, and payment sounds good to Eames. They shake hands on it.

Satisfied with their discussion, Smith tells him to start tomorrow and that he'll send for him should any changes occur. Fine by Eames. At some point Eames had lost track of Lily, but when he’s ready to leave she jumps into his pocket and accompanies him out.

On the doorway Eames pauses and waves goodbye to Smith's coyote, just for the sake of it.

Call him polite. And a dog lover.

Smith rolls his eyes, but Eames thinks he’s just a bit amused.

Eames exists with Lily into the street and walks a few steps into a nearby alleyway, on the pretense of a smoke. Once they’re out of sight, Eames leans against a wall and sighs.

“So?” Eames asks.

Lily jumps out into the floor and immediately whines. “Boooooring, god it was so boring Eames.”

“Lily.”

She’s a street cat now, because she loves making his life difficult. She sprawls out dramatically on the sidewalk and licks one hand.

“The entire time I could only get two words out of Sam and you wanna know what those words were?”

Very much, Eames is about to say, but she cuts him off.

“Go away. That's it. Just go away. After an _hour_ of my best charms. God, what an asshole move.”

There's something that she’s hiding. Eames knows what she’s like when she’s got good gossip.

Eames switches strategies. He crouches and pets her head.

“Work through your memory for me love,” Eames tries, voice dripping with easy affection. “She really didn’t say anything else?”

“Who?”

God, Eames must have the world's most difficult daemon.

He scratches behind her ears and Lily honest to god purrs. Eames smiles.

“Sam love. She didn’t say anything else?”

“No,” Lily says, and then adds, casually, “and Sam is not a she.”

…wait. What?

“Smith’s daemon is male?”

“Yep.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.” She draws out the ‘p’. God, Eames knew she had something good.

“How do you know?”

“Well, the voice. An hour later when Sam finally said something the voice was obviously male-”

“You could have misheard-” Eames starts, but she talks over him.

“I could have misheard, which is why after that I went looking. He tried to bat me away but it wasn’t difficult. I mean, he’s a coyote, he doesn’t wear clothes.”

Eames is scandalized.

“Lily! That's an invasion of his privacy.”

“Oh, c'mon. You wanted to know too.”

God, yeah he did. And this is just-

“Could Smith be, you know,” Eames starts, and is afraid to finish it.

“Sexually interested in men?”

Eames sighs.

“ _Lily_. Must you be so crass.”

“What, that's what you meant! Male daemons usually mean that.”

Eames isn’t sold.

“You haven’t assumed a male form in years.”

“Yeah, because it’s dangerous and I can shapeshift.”

“I know baby, it's okay,” Eames reassures her, but even as he says it he’s thinking yeah, it is dangerous, so Lily must have annoyed the shit out of Sam to get him to casually out himself like that.

“I glanced out of the corner of my eye at some point and you were doing the _I'm not touching you thing_ ,” Eames remembers.

“Yeah.” Lily doesn’t even deny it. “My talents include being incredibly annoying.”

“I'll agree with that.”

He combs her fur with his fingers and gives her extra ear scratches. She's earned it.

As he's petting her something else occurs to him. “Lily,” he starts carefully, “We do a bunch of shit that is dangerous. This, your gender, is not one of our problems. I promise. If you wanna turn into a male animal, I mean. I don’t mind. Shit, I know what people say, but nothing is going to happen to us. I'll protect you.”

Lily smiles at him, but shakes his head.

“Maybe another time, Eames. I'll keep it in mind, okay?”

“Alright. You did good today.”

Lily rolls over and stretches, absolutely confident.

“God, I did, didn’t I?”

“Don’t get cocky on me. Come on, today is day off. Do you wanna see the Zoo?”

“Can I steal wallets from the visitors?”

“Of course.”

“I'm game.”

*

Lily was male before anything else. That’s around the time people around Eames freaked out and named him Lily, to hide it. Quietly, Eames would pet Lily and say it was okay. Eames didn’t know why people were upset, but he knew they were wrong.

Lily was just a terrified little thing, in the first years. He always thought he was about to get Eames hurt, even if he couldn’t understand why, and he did anything in his power to remain small and unnoticeable.

But Lily has a special talent.

All daemons can shapeshift when young, sure, but Lily is the only one Eames knows that can do it well into adulthood, and that can change genders. Eames thinks Lily figured out how to do it on purpose, in the beginning, to protect them. Same gender daemons are just, well… Lily figured out quite early on that if she was female she and Eames had a much easier time.

*

“My daemon informs me that Lily pestered him into revealing his gender,” Smith starts, an example in professionalism, as soon as Eames walks through the door. “I hope this won't be a problem for our working relationship.”

“Hello to you too,” Eames says. Eames drops his satchel on a table and waves at Sam. And then he actually looks at Smith. He lets his eyes linger, the way he'd barely allowed himself to do the last day. The man is beautiful. Eames imagines what would be like to take him out to dinner him and can barely breathe.

“It’s not a problem,” Eames says, and, because he possesses no brain to mouth coordination, he follows it up with, “can I take you out to dinner?”

Eames' impulsive at the best of times, reckless at the worst. Someday that's gonna get him sent too jail.

Smith is (understandably) scandalized.

“ _What_? Are you… attempting to make a joke?”

“Course not. Nice dinner. I'll pay.”

Smith just stares at him.

“I'm not queer,” Smith says after a few moment. “That’s inappropriate of you. I expect better work ethics from here on out.”

Eames can barely believe what he’s hearing. “Mate, are you serious? Better work ethics at… stealing cargo?”

Smith doesn’t relent.

“Respect me, Mr. Eames, and don’t make any further assumptions about my sex life. You’ll regret it.”

“I wasn’t disrespecting you, god. Look, Lily,” Eames tries to will her into helping out, but she shakes her head.

One shape shift from her would show Smith that Eames has no grounds to judge someone for a male daemon. But Lily can’t.

Deep inside, Eames can’t trust someone like that. The thought is terrifying. Lily knows. She remains resolutely female.

Smith is still looking at him and gets increasingly frustrated that Eames is wasting his time. Eames shakes his head and apologizes.

“Won’t happen again, Smith.”

“I hope so, Mr. Eames.”

*

Smith firmly turned him down but Eames can feel- glances, now, when Smith thinks he won’t notice. Like Smith is curious. Or trying to figure him out.

Smith's daemon being a coyote is the best part of this. That’s practically a dog. Like, he is a dog, just fancy about it. Sometimes Smith is trying to play it cool but Sam's ears are perked right up.

And the tail, god.

“You’re beautiful,” Eames says, to test his theory. He doesn’t know which one he’s talking to. Smith doesn’t spare him a glance but Sam- Sam's tail wiggles, like Sam is excited and just can’t help himself.

Eames grins. Dead giveaway.

Eames decides then and there that he’s not giving up so easy. He gotta at least show Smith that it’s okay to want this, right? After that, the choice is Smith’s. Eames will let it go if Smith is not interested.

*

Eames considers tactics. He could start by gathering information, he thinks. Lily agrees. As good a place as any.

Also he should probably get into Smith’s good books, if at all possible.

He looks up info on coyotes. He doesn’t find much, but it’s enough to go from.

One day he ventures into the kitchen area of the building they’re working in and risks making coffee. Smith looks like a coffee guy.

“They’re kinda like wolves, right?” Eames starts, innocently enough.

He uses the moment to leave a cup of coffee on Smith's desk, like a peace offering. Smith smells it with a healthy level of mistrust.

“Who are like wolves?”

“Coyotes.”

“Oh.” After a moment, Smith deems the coffee good and takes a sip, enjoying the flavor. He glances down at his own coyote. “Sure. But they don’t hunt in a big pack of specialized skills, like wolves do.”

Hmm. Eames can picture it. “More of a jack of all trades, are you?”

Smith makes eye contact. “Something like that. I can adapt to what’s needed.”

“’They’re versatile, resourceful, able to expand into different territories,’ sounds right to you?”

Smith pauses. “Where did you see that?”

“Book on Northern America wild life.”

Smith smiles. Eames notices it’s the first time he gets a real smile out of him. It's amazing. He doesn’t even care why Smith smiled, at first.

“You went to the library for me?” Smith asks.

Oh.

“Excuse you,” Eames says, with fake exasperation. “I went to the library for Sam. He’s cute and I like him.”

“Do you now?”

“Hmmhmm. Any information on you is incidental at best.”

God, Smith looks so young when he let’s his guard down. It puts in shark contrast the expression he has on most days. He’s brilliant. He should always be able to look this way.

“And they’re smart,” Eames continues, “but they don’t have the blind trust in authority of a dog.”

Arthur smiles down at Sam, like a mother proud of her baby. “Yeah. Sounds about right.”

There’s something about Smith, Eames decides. Something that really works for Eames. The way Smith feels proud over _mistrusting authority_ is just… so sexy.

“Coffee's good?” Eames asks.

“It’s decent.”

“Tell how you like it. Next time I'll get it right.”

“You don’t have to bribe me with coffee, Eames. We’re good.”

“Maybe I want to bribe you with coffee.” Eames pauses. “Not that you are bribable. Or that I would ever do such thing.”

Smith just smiles.

“Okay,” he says. “Milk. No sugar.”

“Got it.”

*

Things go well for the next days. Eames thinks he’s making progress. Gently wearing Smith down.

Which is why, obviously, something had to go wrong.

He's on a local market getting milk for Smith's coffee when a police officer comes in. At a first glance, Eames thinks he’s off duty. But, no-

The officer scans the place and then somehow sees Eames, really sees him, and Eames immediately knows that he’s fucked.

Shit.

Eames needs an exit strategy. As soon as possible. Which is roughly when Eames notices that the officer’s daemon is a big ass bear that is blocking the entrance.

Eames looks around for about 3 seconds of denial but nope. No other door. The only way out is through.

“Lily,” he tells her. “Sorry dear.”

 _Don’t be_ , he can feel in the way she’s vibrating next to him. She’s ready. She just needs an opening.

Eames whistles and for a second he draws both officer’s and bear's attention.

 _Now_.

In a flash, Lily is a falcon, swooning down into the bear. She gets close enough and bites _hard_. The unpredictably buys her an advantage, but the bear has strength in it’s side and bats her away clear across the room. Before she hits the wall she’s a bear too, only knocking down a fruit stand and standing back up to fight.

Eames doesn’t understand her choice. Two bears is evenly matched. Lily needs the upper hand. But she’s always good at what she does. If she’s choosing to fight the bear head on she knows what she’s doing.

There’s a claw slashing and a sound that hurts Eames’ soul, but he has to stop paying attention. The officer is on him. He lands a good hit with a truncheon on Eames’ ribs, the kind that makes Eames want to puke, but Eames has experience with hand to hand combat. Most of the police force in Baltimore these days is pretty green. Eames goes straight for the truncheon and pushes back with his whole body, holding it at an awkward angle. The officer has to let go or risk breaking his wrist.

“Lily,” he tries to look. Wrong choice. The man lands aa good elbow to Eames’ face.

Eames thinks it wasn’t what the officer was going for. The elbow hits awkwardly, uncoordinated. But hard enough to _hurt_. Eames stumbles a step back, dizzy, and swings with wildly the truncheon. Somehow, it lands.

The man is temporarily down and it’s now or never.

“ _Lily_!” he shouts again.

She’s hurt, but she’ll manage. Eames notices that she used her size to move the fight away from the entrance, clearing a path. When Eames calls she turns into a hummingbird and races with him for the door.

They stumble out into the street.

“I can give us speed,” she reminds him, meaning a horse. Shit, he shouldn’t. She’s hurt.

Eames is going through maps inside his head. Left, he thinks. Right should be the Patterson Park, they’re not gonna lose a trail in an open space.

“No.” Eames pulls her into his pocket and _runs_.

One block and he’s turning into an alleyway, coming out the back and moving in a zig zag across the city. He can hear footsteps behind him.

“I did say we were wanted in Baltimore,” he explains to Lily.

“You said we would blend in and be fine!”

“Well, Lily, this is an important lesson. Sometimes I'm wrong.”

The steps are getting closer.

Eames miscalculates. The next street is a dead end. He turns around and panics.

“ _Shit_. Okay, yeah Lily.”

She turns into a horse just as the figures appear at the alleyway.

Eames climbs up and they speed past the officer and bear, before they can catch up.

*

Eames doesn’t know where else to go. It’s not like he can trust anyone else in this city.

Eames uses Lily just long enough to lose the trail and then gets down. Eames fucking loves the freedom of riding a horse, but Lily was stumbling the last block or two. She can’t take it today. He walks across town the rest of the way to the warehouse.

When Eames (finally, _finally_ ) walks in he thinks Smith is gonna chastise him for being late. Maybe he would have, in different circumstances. But not these. Smith takes one look at them, says _shit_ and reaches for bandages.

 _I leave you alone for five minutes_ \- Smith is saying under his breath. The concern makes Eames smile.

“She first,” Eames indicates. He is not the priority. But now that he says it he notices that there’s nothing specifically wrong with Lily. The shape shifting makes whatever wound happened hard to notice. She’s just weak.

Or-

Or she’s hiding it.

“Where’s the wound?” he demands.

She’s a snake so she can’t exactly shrug, but Eames gets the feeling that that’s what she's doing.

After a moment or two she relents.

“Left leg.”

Eames is _furious_.

“Leg?”

“Well, I don’t currently have one, but when I do-”

She knows damn well that’s not what he’s talking about. “You have a leg wound and made me ride you as a horse?”

“We needed to escape, Eames. And I'm good. I swear. It’s not deep.”

“Turn into something with legs.”

“Eames…”

“I _mean_ it, Lily.”

She does.

Siberian Husky, of all things. Eames feels some of the anger draining out.

“You’re choosing a dog just so you'll be cute and I won’t be mad at you.”

Smith actually laughs at that one. Eames glances at him. Eames forgot about him for a moment. Smith is looking a little caught out at the eavesdropping, but he shouldn’t be. Eames doesn’t mind.

“Don’t buy it,” Eames tells him, pointing at the dog. “She’s a cunning thing.”

“She’s a part of you,” Smith points it out.

“I’m a cunning thing,” Eames agrees easily. “She takes it after me.”

“She’s good. You must be proud.”

Eames is. She just makes his life more difficult sometimes.

Smith crouches down in front of her and gestures for her leg. She shows it obediently. As a dog the claw marks are there, three of them. Eames’ heart hurts.

“They are superficial,” Smith reassures him. “She’s not lying. She put a strain on it by running as a horse, sure, but it’s not so bad. Some rest should do her good.”

“See,” Lily tells him, looking vindicated. God, she’s like a child sometimes.

“Alright. Rest time for you.”

He picks her up and makes room for her in a chair. She turns back into the snake and curls up.

“You’re,” Smith starts, and gestures to his own lip.

Oh. Eames can feel what he means. He moves his tongue along the inside of his lip, over the cut, and swallows the metallic taste of blood.

“It’s nothing.” Eames has had worse.

Smith looks unconvinced.

“Don’t you want me to dress the wound?” Smith offers.

“On my bottom lip? I'm just gonna drool through the gauze.”

Smith shrugs.

“I'm feeling useless. Can’t I help somehow?”

“Kiss it better.”

It’s a lighthearted joke, Eames thinks. Something he could get away with.

Smith looks down, like he could actually do it.

For a moment, Eames imagines that he will.

Eames can almost taste it. He keeps waiting for Smith laugh it off.

Smith doesn’t laugh though. Just keeps looking.

“Where are you staying?” Smith asks.

Wow, that’s moving a little fast. Eames could at least use a kiss.

“I’m a proper boy,” Eames tells him. “Need to be wine and denied first.”

“For rest,” Smith says, but not like he’s offended. “She needs to sleep. For that to happen _you_ need to sleep. You’re not going to put her in a chair and sleep yourself on the floor.”

Oh. That's insightful of him. “I'm in a hotel near the harbor.”

Smith looks pensive.

“You'll draw attention in a hotel with a split lip.”

“What do I do then?”

Smith shrugs. “My place is nearby. You two can sleep there for a few hours if you want.”

It’s such a kind gesture. Lily does need it. Eames could easily make a joke, but he doesn’t want to cheapen te gesture.

“Thank you. I'd appreciate it.”

*

Smith takes him to an apartment a few blocks away and shows Eames to a bedroom there.

Eames didn’t even think he was tired, but Lily must be projecting the need to recover through their bond. Five minutes after being presented with a warm bed Eames has enough presence of mind to take off his shoes and curl up around Lily, but that’s about it. He’s gone.

Before falling asleep he can smell Smith all around the room and just feel safe. He’s glad Smith could give him that.

He wakes up some time later, disoriented. A clock in a nightstand tells him it’s a little after 10pm.

Lily turns into a cat and stretches, to show that she’s good. Ha. She won’t convince him so easily. He’ll be on the lookout for weeks, he hopes she knows that.

Eames gets up but gestures for her to stay. They can deal with some meters of separation, and she should stay in bed as much as she can.

Outside the bedroom Sam is lying by the door, keeping guard. Eames walks around him, careful not to disturb.

Eames finds Smith in the kitchen, leaning against a counter.

“There’s coffee ready if you want some,” Smith offers.

 _At 10pm?_ Is Eames first thought. But meh, Eames does want it.

“Thank you.” He reaches for the pot and pours himself a cup.

“Sorry about this,” Eames says. He realizes he hadn’t explained what happened. “Police found me.”

“I figured.”

Now that Eames thinks about it, it must have been pretty obvious.

“What did you do?” Smith asks. “That set off the police?”

“Nothing.”

Smith doesn’t buy it. “Oh, really?”

“Nothing, I swear.” Eames repeats. “Guy probably knew me from before or saw a wanted poster somewhere.”

“Hmmmm.”

“I mean it. I was out buying milk, of all things.”

That actually makes Smith pause. “…for me?”

What..?

Oh, the coffee. Smith figured from that.

“This is in no way, shape or form your fault, you know that right?” Eames tells Smith. “I'm a big boy. Running from the police is my own responsibility.”

Smith smiles at that one.

“I wasn’t going to take blame. I just appreciate the gesture, I suppose. Thank you.”

Eames watches at him for a long time. He’s feeling brutally honest right about now.

“Can’t you feel something here, between us.” Eames wants some kind of sign. “Tell me you don’t feel this, Smith.”

“Arthur. My name is Arthur.”

_Oh._

_Arthur._

It feels right.

Eames looks into his eyes and feels like Smith- _Arthur_ knows what Eames is feeling. Like Arthur wants him. Like might, just might, give this the chance it deserves.

Eames glances down at his lips. Leans in.

Their lips brush together, just barely, once, and then a second time.

A third.

"Did you invite me into your apartment thinking about something this?"

"Hmm? God Eames, no. I've never even thought- No man has so shamelessly flirted with me before."

"They should," Eames says, in good nature.

He leans down so they can kiss again.

Arthur pushes him away.

“I don’t think we should.”

“What? Why not?”

By god, Eames doesn’t understand him.

Arthur runs a hand through his face, looks away. “I'm not interested in men, Mr. Eames. You’re trouble for me.”

…seriously?

“I'm trouble for others, love. I don’t have to be trouble for you.”

“Eames...”

Both Sam and Lily are at the kitchen doorway, watching them. Eames sighs. He just doesn’t get it.

Arthur turns and notices the daemons too. “Lily, good to see you out and about,” he says. “Are you doing okay?”

Lily nods.

“I’m glad. You can take whatever time you need to recover.”

Eames thinks there’s an implied _but when you’re done see yourself out_ somewhere.

“You’re being dumb,” Eames tells him.

Arthur sighs.

“This isn’t up to you.”

“You’re being dumb,” _Sam_ tells Arthur.

Well. That’s unexpected.

“Sam, this isn’t up to you either.”

“I don't want to lose him."

“Sam,” Arthur pleads, and his voice cracks on the one word.

“ _Why_?”

“Because-“ Arthur starts, and he has to tale a deep breath to get the words out. “Because this is dangerous. It’s gonna get us hurt. I'm trying to protect us.”

“We're already hurting, Arthur. You're stopping us from healing.”

Arthur shakes his head.

“Shit,” he breathes out. “Shit Sam, spending time with those two is making you stubborn,” Arthur tells him.

It could be, honestly. Eames is a great influence. But Eames thinks that’s not it. Arthur just wants a part of him to voice what he’s feeling.

“When it hurts you say that we’re strong enough to handle it, and we are but that doesn’t mean we want to.” Sam says.

“Shit.” Arthur is shaking a little. Eames reaches out instinctively to pull him into a hug.

Arthur hugs back. Eames' chin is at the perfect height to fit above Arthur’s head. He wraps his hands around Arthur’s waist and holds on tight.

Arthur takes a moment to just hang on to him.

“You’re right,” Arthur tells Sam. “I'm sorry. I'm gonna take better care of us.”

“Promise.” Sam asks, and Arthur laughs.

“I promise. I'm gonna take better care of us. And I'm not gonna make him go away. Not on purpose, at least. There’s not much I can do if he wants to leave, though.”

“I don’t.”

Arthur smiles.

He disentangle the two of them and glances at Eames' lips.

“Do you want to try again? I won’t duck.”

“Say that again. But like, with enthusiasm.”

“I want to kiss you,” Arthur says immediately. “God, I've thought about it so much since you arrived at the city. You've messed with me, Eames. I really want to.”

Eames kisses him. Slips his lips between Arthur’s and lets Arthur set the pace. Arthur breathes out hard and keeps slow, brings his arms around Eames’ neck.

Arthur is mindful of Eames’ hurt lip. Eames doesn’t need it. He bites down softly on Arthur’s bottom lip to show that it’s okay.

“ _Eames_ ,” Arthur gasps out. Eames swallows it.

Arthur mimics the bite, so hot, even more gently than when Eames did it. The pressure on his wound hurt, but in a good way. Arthur follows it up with his tongue, slipping inside. The sesual pace is so arousing. Eames feels a rush of pure want. He brings a hand to Arthur’s cheek, angling his head and letting the kiss deepen.

The kiss gets harder, wetter. Eames can taste blood, but he doesn’t care. All he wants is this.

He needs to slow it down if he doesn’t want to rush this.

He brings it to a stop and leans his forehead against Arthur.

“You good?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Arthur says, and the way his voice sounds is beautiful. He should be breathless more all the time.

They lost track of time for a bit. They lost track of their daemons for a bit, which is why it comes as a surprise when Eames actually notices them.

Their daemons are... cuddling. There's no other word for it. There's definitely some cuddle action going on. Lily is currently some kind of feline, a cheetah? Maybe? She's got one of the coyotes' ears between her teeth and she's just slowly biting at it.

Eames takes a moment to absorb the scene.

"Lily, what on earth are you doing?"

Lily looks at him and snuggles deeper, biting the coyote's other ear.

"I'm cuddling."

Is she kidding him.

"Yes, I can see that. Why are you cuddling Arthur's deamon?"

“I like him.”

What on earth. “Of course you like him, Lily. But you can’t do this.”

Lily does the cheetah equivalent of shrugging. Oh boy

"Lily. Lily, you can't just cuddle other people's deamons."

"Can too."

What is he supposed to do about his soul misbehaving?

"Lily, Sam doesn't want you to," Eames tries next but even as he says it he knows it's not true.

Sam is playing it cool but he’s leaning back against Lily, comfortably making room for her. Lily doesn't give Eames an answer. Eames decides to switch strategies.

"Lily, I've only just had a talk with Arthur. Hmm? You understand that? If you go too hard you're gonna make him uncomfortable and scare him off."

Arthur snorts.

Well, if he wants to interfere he's free to say something. Eames keeps going.

“Lily, take it slow.”

“Don't wanna take it slow, wanna snuggle.”

You know what, Eames gives up.

“Well, fuck you too. If you make him go away and lose your cuddle buddy I won’t care.”

He will care. But that’s a problem for future him. A man gotta have his pride.

Except-

Lily starts licking the fur on Sam's neck and Sam just... lets her.

Eames is _mesmerized_. He can't look away. Sam is _Arthur_ 's daemon. And he just allows her, even stretching and making himself comfortable.

The idea that a part of Arthur would allow him such an easy intimacy is just- breathtaking.

Does that mean... does Arthur want to cuddle?

"Do you want to-" he starts, and Arthur turns to look at him. Eames loses his guts. "No, nevermind."

Arthur reaches down to pet Sam, mindful of where Lily is so doesn’t touch her. Eames wouldn’t mind if he did. He trusts Lily with Arthur.

Isn’t that a revelation?

Eames trusts Lily with Arthur.

Lily is the one who initiates it. She bumps her head lightly against Arthur’s wrist.

Arthur gasps.

Slowly, very, very slowly, he lets his hand brush against Lily’s fur.

Eames never felt anything like this.

Lily is sending something beautiful through their connection, like a bright burst of light surging through his veins.

It’s breathtaking.

Eames will hold onto this. He promises.

He just gotta show Arthur that it's okay.

**Epilogue**

The job goes well.

So does the one after it, and the next one.

Eames is still a bit of a nomad, for work. He still has to take a lot of trains. It’s not really about being stuck to one place, he thinks. It’s about having someone waiting at the station for him when he comes back.

It’s about seeing Arthur in the crowd and feeling something right falling into place.

"Hey, I've missed you guys," he'll say and Arthur will just smile at him, because he believes it, these days.

"Hey yourself. Welcome home."

**Author's Note:**

> Yay it's done! This took longer than I expected. I love working with a deadline because it relly makes me focus, but at the same time the deadline wins in the end. This would look a little different with a few extra weeks lol
> 
> Sorry for making yall read Eames/Smith fiction lmao I promise it was annoying to write. I was like 'Arthur's paranoid in this one! Call him Smith only' but I'd forget and write Arthur a dozen times (if i missed anything oops!)
> 
> Fun fact: when the fic was in drafts one of the scene transitions was just [exit, persued by bear]
> 
> My inception blog is at [dreaminghigher](https://dreaminghigher.tumblr.com/).


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